Divided Sky and Mike’s Song were aborted due to sound problems. The first set then ended early so that the crew could fix the P.A.. More problems arose during Sparkle, which was subsequently aborted. Trey asked the crew to turn the monitors around so the band could play through them. While they worked, the band told jokes. Trey even asked Fish to tell the Prison Joke but the sound was fixed before it actually happened. The jam out of Halley’s included a First Tube tease. Weekapaug included On Broadway teases.

Show Reviews

PA problems bailed Trey out of what has to be one of the worst Divided Skys ever. And (sorry Trey) he started fucking up before the PA did on that one.

Other than that, it boggles my mind how underrated this show is. Show me another show with two 20 minute jams in one set that scores below a 3.0 average score. This "second set" is nothing short of amazing. Killer Jammed out Halley's, and an all-timer Mike's Groove with a great Mike's and a cool Weekapaug (complete with On Broadway jam) sandwiching a transcendent Simple that runs the gamut from blissful Simple jam to ambient atmospheric to uptempo rock and stretches for 24 minutes. Even GTBT gets a little extra jamming.

Awkward and anti-climactic for a European tour closer. The Halley's comet is longish, like 20 minutes and Mike is laying down this evil ominous backbeat while Trey messes with delay loops. Listen to this show if not just for this.

The AUDs of this tour are phenomenal! If you are in the fence about AUDs look into these for sure. I wouldn't trade mine for nuthin'. Of course, I taped em'.

I thought I'd chime in seeing as a lot of the reviews are negative and this show has a low rating due to the aborted first set. There are still some strong jams here that are definitely worth your time. Halley's is the epitome of mellow 98 funk. Trey keeps it pretty low key but I like what I'm hearing. Around 12 minutes in he drops the First Tube lick over a year before Phish ever played it. The jam eventually ends up in some Star Trek territory. Mike's and Weekapaug are standard for the era, but that means pretty good. They play Simple in the middle of the Groove and it drifts into ambience but brings some heat starting at 15 minutes. This segment is totally unique and the highlight of the show. Fishman brings back the First Tube beat for awhile and all is glorious. You should probably also listen to the Mike's from the first set for some context.

Also, the night before this an exceptional show (better than this one for sure). Tweezer, Drowned, Hood > Izabella. If you're reading this and haven't those, then good God, go for it right away!

The last show of their 98 Europe tour had a few glitches to say the least. There were issues with the venue, which I don't think had seen anything like a phish crowd come through. I'm not sure they were prepared for such a thing. I heard some fans complaining they were raising drink prices as the run progressed. Then on this night the sound was going really bad. At one point they even tried playing with just the stage monitors. On some down time I remember Trey and Jon joking with each other, Trey even said, "Who's the guy that like to hang out with musicians? A: The drummer" ba da bump. I think Fish responded with something like "How do you slow a guitarist down? A: You put sheet music in front of him." Eventually the problems were worked out and we were treated to a rollicking second set. After the show I ran into Mike and Page outside the venue. A young woman was showing Mike how to do some dance there in the street. Eventually I slipped off into the Barcelona night. The next day I took the train to Sitges and met a couple of other phans from Lawrence, KS. Great time and my first trip to Europe!

To the best of my knowledge, the melody Trey finds towards the end of the Halley's jam will emerge at least two more times in '98. In Phish's next show in Portland, 7/15/98, their first American show of the tour, this melody will be integral to the jam that follows Horn; and we'll hear it again in the jam that follows NICU on 10/30/98. There may be other renditions of this melody, but those ones are for sure.

My mind is also boggled that anyone would single this show out as a stinker. Even a bit boggled that the Halley's and Mike's Groove (the Simple in particular) aren't beloved, hall-of-fame tracks.

The DWD to kick it off is no slouch.... perhaps not fully loosened up for the head of the song but I've heard lesser Disease jams exalted by the "sophisticated" phans. But yeah, the rest of the abbreviated first set is simply problem-filled. Feel free to skip.

The Halley's is one of the greats in my mind. I remember when I first heard the version from 11/22/97, I was startled but thrilled to hear the jam not take off like a rocket ship (the traditional plan), but instead jump off a cliff and free fall into an abyss. This one is similar....it falls down into a relaxed trance-dance kind of groove that I'd think would appeal to the modern fan. I love this version.... it's right there with 11/22/97, the Great Went, 8/3/98, and 12/7/99 to me.

As others have noted, the Simple is as good or better than the Halley's, but the Mike's Song setup is really nice too. The Weekapaug isn't super special (although I like the On Broadway breakdown part) but the suite as a whole is also right there with many highly regarded Mike's Grooves. Ok, the Sample>GTBT is pretty mediocre by the standards of the day and not a very strong finish...some demerits there I suppose. I like Brian and Robert. This isn't a particularly special version and I could understand fans being underwhelmed by the choice for the encore if it didn't go into a quick but excellent Taste.

I don't know... I suppose the Halley's and Mike's Groove are the only essential tracks, but you've got over an hour of ELITE Phish right there. Plus about 20 minutes of DWD and Taste that won't disappoint either. FAR, FAR from a bad show. Don't overlook!

I was soo let down by this show. Divided Sky was aborted but right before that, Trey flubs worse than I ever would want to hear...painful. The sound was messed up and it never was perfect. The venue sucked and Phish really started to show their not so smooth side during this tour. I was definitely not so stoked for the US shows after this run. Luckily Phish brought their "A" game when back in the states. This is one of my top 5 least favorites. Would have been better off hangin with Spaniards doing something Spanish...I suppose. Sorry if this is negative. You win some and lose some.

This is a show I'm unlikely to ever revisit again, especially in full, but not because it's a bad show (I've definitely heard way worse.) The PA problems are obvious and terrible and distracting. It's distracting on headphones and I'm sure it was a nightmare for the band, but they valiantly pushed through anyway. The loud pops from the PA impede on more than a few songs and I just can't see going back in on this when there's so much excellence out there without issue. That said, Trey bombed on Divided Sky badly. Like sooooo badly. When the wrinkles get ironed out it goes off pretty well, but given how good the rest of this tour is (especially Prague 2 and the Copenhagen run and Barcelona 2) I just don't see returning here.

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